Improvement in refining petroleum-oils



E; 0. KATTELL. Refining Petroleum Oils.

No. 222,408. Patented Dec. 9, 1879.

- L I 13L 0 0 0 11 4.; run; E

9 o 0 0 Q o o o oooooepi o 0 00d fi z'l'mmewx UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDYVARD C. KATTELL, F B INGHAMTON, NEW YORK.

l'MPRVE MENT IN REFININGIPETROLEUM-OILS.

Specification forming pari'i'of Letters Patent h m-222,408, dated December 9, 1879 application filed October 24,1818.

To all whom it may concern;-

.Be it known'that I, EDWARD C. KATTELL, of Blnghamton, in the county of Broomeand' State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Deodorizing Petroleum and other Oleaginous Substances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which 'will enable others.

skilled in the art to which -it appcrtains to make and 'use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part .of this specification.

One of the products of the refining of crude petroleum is a thick tarry substance, commonly 'known as petroleumresiduum, the

vaporizing-point of which is very high-frequently as high as 600 Fahrenheit. Thisresi'duum contains an admixture of deleterious substances that impart a very unpleasant taint or odor, and which cannot be eliminated by the action of either heat, steam, hot air, or air mingled with. steam, whether the steam be of ordinary temperature orsuperheated, when employed at such temperatures and in such quantities as do not raise the temperature of the mass above 212 Fahrenheit. These deleterious substances are found in the residuum which results from any, of the ordinary methods 0t refining; and-oneof the reasons why the substances which produce the taint cannot be removed by any of the processes heretofore known is, that heretofore the mass has been acted upon by either steam or steam and air combined under such conditions that the above-mentioned agents unless the mass is raised above 212 is, that the deleterious material will not be oxidized at low temperatures; but I have found that by heating the entire body of residuum which is to be treated to a temperature of, say, 400 to 600 Fahrenheit, and then subjecting it to the action of superheated steam and atmospheric air combined, I amenabled to effect athorough deodorization of the mass without loss in bulk by evaporation.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention, I will proceed to describe a method by which I carry it into efl'ect.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a tank or reservoir of any suitable material or size, provided at its lower end with a pipe, A, and stop-cock a, through which to draw 011' the contents of the tank. B is a steam-pipe leading from a steamboiler and passing through the furnace beneath the boiler or other contrivances, by which the steam, after leaving the boiler, may be superheated to, say, 1,50u Fahrenheit.-

O C represent a pipe, the lower end, a, of which opens into the lower part of the tank ,A. The upper outer end of the pipe 0 U is provided with an opening, D, and valve or stop-cock (I, by means of which the admission of air may be regulated.

The pipe B enters the pipe 0 C near the opening D, the relative diameters of the end I) of the steam-pipe and the part 0 of the airpipe being such as to form an injector, in such manner that when superheated steam is dis-. charged through the pipe B it will draw a volume of air through the opening D, and discharge the mingled air and superheated steam into the lower part of the tank; and, when preferred, a perforated worm or coil of pipe may be attached to the end of the pipe 0, to .efi'ect amore uniform distribution of the steam and air throughout the lower portion of the conl tents of the tank.

duct to any point the vapors which pass from the tank.

In carrying out my invention, I partially fill the tank A with the petroleum-residuum which is to be treated, and force into it through the pipes B O C a stream of superheated steam and atmospheric air until the entire mass is raised nearly to its vaporizing-point, which, with petroleum-residuum of the ordinary density, will be between 40h and 600 Fahrenheit. After the temperature has been raised to about this point, I decrease the supply of air and superheated steam to such an extent as to not materially increase the temperature of the mass within the tank, and thus practically avoid any vaporization of the residuum.

It will be readily understood that as the mingled air and superheated steam pass upward through the mass it is broughtinto intimate contact with the particles of residuum which have by this high temperature been expanded and driven asunder to such an extent as to greatly facilitate the application of-the air and superheated steam thereto. I continue this operation until the deleterious substances which impart to the residuum its nu pleasant taint and odor have been thoroughly oxidized and eliminated, when the steam and air are turned otf and the mass allowed to cool.

I am aware that steam and air have been employed in refining crude oil; and I am also aware that atmospheric air and superheated steam have been employed for converting hydrocarbon oils into vapor in the manufacture of illuminating-gas. Hence I do not claim the use of superheated steam and atmospheric air for the purpose of vaporizing oils or other oleaginous substances; but my process differs essen tially from any other of which I have knowledge, in that I am the first to treat with air and superheated steam an oleaginous substance which is raised to and maintained at a temperature above "212 Fahrenheit, which temperature prevents the condensation of the steam to water; secondly, I am the first to treat an oleaginous substance with. superheated I steam and air applied thereto in such quantities and atsuch temperatures as to maintain themass under treatment permanently at a temperature below its vaporizing-point; thirdly, I am the first to treat an oleaginous material combined with atmospheric air and superheated steam in an open vessel iusuch manner that the substance which causes the taint or obj e'etionable odor thereinis discharged into the open air, while all the valuable portion of the material is retained in the tank without vaporization.

I can treat in a similar manner grease, lard, tallow, and other oleaginous substances which do not vaporize at a point below 212 Fahrenheit, because they can all be heated to the point which is necessary to prevent condensing the steam to watermywithout undue waste by evaporation, which is one of the principal features of operation which distinguish my process from those of earlier date.

The stop-cock f may be closed until the mass within the tank is heatedto almost 212 Fahrenheit, thereby saving heat which might oth-- erwise be wasted.

I do not in this case claim, broadly, a pr cess of deodorizing an, oleaginous substance by subjecting it to the action of superheated steam and atmospheric air, as I prefer to make that the subject of another application which I am now preparing to file at an early date.

I am aware of the existence of Patents Nos. 178,061 and 178,154, to Walter P. Jenney, for an improvement in the manufacture of resinous substances of sludge-oil, in which he sets forth as a part of his process that he volatilizes a portion of the material by the use of steam at a high temperature, and then oxidizes the oil by means ofcur-rents of heatedair, whereby he produces aa'esin having certain desirable qualities. Hence I do not claim any-portion of the process he therein described.

What I claimisw The herein-described process of deodoriztng an oleaginous substance, which consists In subjecting it to the action of superheated steam and atmospheric air introduced below the surface of the mass, the oleaginous substance being maintained at a temperature between 212 Fahrenheit and its point of vaporizing to prevent condensation of steam, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDiVARD O. KA'ITELL.

Witnesses:

J. ,S. WELLS, W. B. EDWARDS. 

